US local refinery unions to vote on national contract in coming weeks

01 February 2012 21:20[Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Local US union contracts at individual refineries will include terms of the national contract as the union members negotiate and vote at the local level, a union spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

United Steelworkers (USW) union spokeswoman Lynne Hancock said each local union will be scheduling a meeting to present the national agreement and have members vote on it. Ratification of the local contract is by a majority of votes, and there is not a pooled vote on the national contract by all refinery union members

The US refining industry, represented by Shell Oil, and union workers tentatively agreed on the national contract more than four hours ahead of the deadline on Tuesday. The former contract expired at the end of Tuesday.

Health and safety were the primary issues for the negotiations, along with wages and benefits, according to the union.

Specific details of the contract will be announced after the ratification process, which can take several weeks, as some local unions have not completed negotiations